High-energy VR Game Will Leave You Breathless

Action in the PowerPlay arena at VRStudios. GeekWire Bash attendees will get the opportunity to try out this new VR experience on Thursday.

The 8th annual GeekWire Bash on Thursday will have a little bit of everything: robotics, video games, ping pong, sumo, Catan and even a thrilling cross venue zipline.

With 2,000 geeks expected, it’s going to be a blast, and if you’ve not yet secured tickets make sure to go here to purchase yours.

But one of the activities we are most looking forward to will leave you mesmerized, and certainly wanting more.

It’s called VRcade PowerPlay, a next-generation virtual reality experience that’s part dodgeball, part capture the flag and set in a Tron-like fantasy world.

“We wanted to put you in a stadium, and make you feel what is like to be in front of a large audience,” said Chanel Summers, vice president of creative development at VRStudios. “It is almost like you lose yourself, and you don’t even know you are in VR. You are like playing a backyard school game.”

Thanks to a partnership with VRStudios and Virtual Sports, GeekWire Bash attendees — with backpacks and Vive headsets strapped on — will get one of the first chances to jump into this immersive 30-foot-by-30-foot virtual arena.

This is VR as you’ve never experienced it — a full motion tracking, multi-participant athletic pursuit with no tethered wires. GeekWire Bash attendees will be some of the first in the world to check out this experience, before the official roll outs to family entertainment centers, casinos and theme parks later this year.

“As we are just rolling these out, almost everybody who has … experienced it — because it is so unique — they make a commitment for it,” said John Walthall, vice president of sales and marketing at VRStudios. “Once you get into it, you are just lost in the competition.”

I got the chance to demo the PowerPlay experience this past weekend at VRStudios headquarters in Redmond, joined by GeekWire chairman Jonathan Sposato and our 9-year old sons. Of course, we had to try this out before our guests arrive on Thursday — and as my son noted after a 10-minute game: “It’s awesome.”

“It is super active,” he said. “I was sweating after. It is a good work out.”

In order to participate in PowerPlay at the GeekWire Bash, make sure to stop by the Virtual Sports booth, and sign up for one of the sessions. We have limited slots available.

Here’s a closer look at PowerPlay. Get ready for some fun with this at the GeekWire Bash on Thursday!